Publishers Weekly
★ 06/21/2021
“Every other Saturday,” this story’s child narrator and his father, who reside in the U.S., set out for the Mexican side of the border near where they live. Meza (Balloons for Papa) pours artistry into mixed-media images of the towns, which mirror each other across the river—“a watery serpent that glints with the dawn,” writes Bowles (Rise of the Halfling King), making his picture book debut. The two show their documents and cross the boundary into the town, brought to life visually with sunny shades of yellow, brick red, and magenta. They make stops at the boy’s aunt and uncle’s jewelry shop, at a grocery for snacks, a doctor’s office for medication, then take much of what they’ve gathered to a family who is camping along the border bridge: “Refugees... Stuck between countries. The U.S. says there’s no room, and Mexico says it can hardly look after its own gente.” Acknowledging their own “duty to care for our gente,” and the “cards that give us the freedom/ to travel back and forth,” the father and son look forward—with warmth and care—to a “wonderful day,” when passage between the border towns isn’t limited. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Taylor Martindale Kean, Full Circle Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Claire Cartey, Holroyde Cartey. (Aug.)
From the Publisher
2022 Américas Award Winner
2022 Tom's Rivera Book Award Winner
2022 Premio, Mejor Libro Infantil/Best Spanish Language Picture Book Award Gold Medalist
2021 New York Public Library Best Books
2021 School Library Journal Best Books
2021 Kirkus Reviews Best Books
2021 Center for the Study of Multicultural Literature Best Books
2023-24 Land of Enchantment Book Award Nominee
An ALSC 2022 Notable Children’s Book
2022 NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Books List
★ "Characters’ friendly greetings, the vibrant illustrations, and the thoughtful actions of this father and son come together to create a feeling of warmth and hope, while also bringing to the forefront the plight of so many like Élder and his family. An excellent addition to Spanish picture-book collections."
—Booklist, starred review
★ "Bowle’s picture-book debut weaves weightier realities into a story of ordinary border town life, and does so with a gentle hand."
—The Horn Book, starred review
★ "Meza (Balloons for Papa) pours artistry into mixed-media images of the towns, which mirror each other across the river… the father and son look forward—with warmth and care—to a 'wonderful day,' when passage between the border towns isn’t limited."
—Publishers Weekly, starred review
★ "Beautiful, honest, complex."
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2021-06-29
A father and son run errands across the U.S.–Mexico border.
Early on Saturday, the boy (who's never named) prepares his “special bag” to bring to Mexico for his friends. Crossing from Texas to Tamaulipas, the duo drives across town and over the bridge into a twin town where Spanish is just as frequently heard, but English is spoken less. Before tackling their errands, father and son stop to fuel up with café de olla and chocolate caliente, respectively. They visit the jewelry shop, gather groceries and supplies at the abarrotes, play soccer with cousins, and pick up medicine at the pharmacy. On their way back home to the United States, the protagonist encounters his friends at the bridge: displaced people from the Caribbean and Central America living in limbo on the border between two towns and two countries. Taking advantage of the slow pace of the traffic on the bridge, the boy exits his father’s truck, bringing the gathered supplies and toys to those in wait. In what initially comes across as a story of a sweet visit to a Mexican town to run some errands, Bowles seamlessly weaves in some of the complexities of living on the border. He fearlessly introduces the complex issues surrounding the presence of refugees waiting to be admitted into the United States and candidly portrays the everyday lives of families who span the border, creating a unique cosmos in this space. Meza’s background illustrations around town imbue the pages with Mexico’s vibrance. Bowles translates his own text into Spanish in a simultaneously publishing edition. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Beautiful, honest, complex. (Picture book. 4-8)
